Free Republic

When a head of state – such as the President of the United States, for example – wants to encourage certain behaviors in a foreign government, the toolbox is limited. There’s diplomacy, of course, but without something backing it up, diplomacy doesn’t mean much. So what are the tools that the diplomats have at their disposal? There’s war, of course, which can mean the threat of war, or the promise of defense, or an alliance in case of mutual concerns about a common enemy. There’s world opinion, and invitations to the right cocktail parties. And there’s trade – either a...

Declaration of Msgr. Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop, Former Apostolic Nuncio to The United States of America, on the Russia-Ukraine Crisis Nothing is lost with peace. All can be lost with war. Let men return to understanding. Let them resume negotiating. Negotiating with good will and with respect for each other’s rights, let them realize that an honorable success is never precluded when there are sincere and active negotiations. And they will feel great – with true greatness – if imposing silence on the voices of passion, whether collective or private, and leaving reason to its proper domain, they will spare...

Sergei Lavrov has made the extraordinary claim that Russia 'did not attack Ukraine' and dismissed the Mariupol hospital bombing as a 'pathetic outcry' as peace talks broke down in Turkey today. Vladimir Putin's attack dog met with Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, who vowed his country 'will not surrender' to Russia as the negotiations made no progress towards a ceasefire. Speaking after the failed talks, Lavrov said: 'We are not planning to attack other countries. We didn't attack Ukraine, either.'

The authorities of the Republic of Poland, after consultations between the President and the Goverment, are ready to deploy – immediately and free of charge – all their MIG-29 jets to the Ramstein Air Base and place them at the disposal of the Government of the United States of America. At the same time, Poland requests the United States to provide us with used aircraft with corresponding operational capabilities. Poland is ready to immediately establish the conditions of purchase of the planes. The Polish Government also requests other NATO Allies – owners of MIG-29 jets – to act in the...

Email on communications policy reminds worker of responsibility to ‘be impartial’ The United Nations has emailed staff advising them not to refer to the situation in Ukraine as a “war” or “invasion”, in a move to balance political sensitivities as powerful member state Russia cracks down domestically on those who use the words. Instead, UN staff have been instructed to use the terms “conflict” or “military offensive” to describe Russia’s invasion of its neighbour, which has killed hundreds of civilians and forced two million people to flee the country. In an email to staff on Monday, the UN communications department...

Why is Putin doing this?...The driving forces behind it, that gain most attention in the Western media, are: hankering after restoring the lost empire of the Soviets and the tsars; fear of further eastern expansion of NATO; opposition to the growing influence of the EU and its democratic and law-based principles in Moscow’s backyard (given the authoritarian nature of the Putin regime); desire to crush a democratic state which embodies principles alien to the present regime in Russia; an attempt to rally support for Putin as the coalition of the dissatisfied grows in Russia; the desire of an ageing authoritarian...